moonlight and oceans
by jwg676
Summary: Jyuushirou and Shunsui get their true soul slayers


**Title:**

**Rating:**

**Pairing / Characters: **Kyouraku / Ukitake, sougyo no kotowari, katen kyoukotsu

**Word Count: **1,125 words

**Warnings: **None that I can think of, I think

**Summary: **How Shunsui and Jyuushirou got their zanpakutous

**A/N: **Yes, I realise that this one doesn't really fit in with my other Shun/Shirou fics about how the two of them achieved shikai, but in my defence, from what I've learnt from watching Bleach, it seems to me that just because a shinigami learns the name of their zanpakutou, doesn't necessarily mean they know how to achieve shikai… it seems to me that shinigami need to learn more about their swords before they can do that…

**scratches head** I think.

Ukitake Jyuushirou dreams.

Tomorrow morning he will have his first training session, will be given his first zanpakutou, but for the moment, he dreams.

In this world he finds himself in, it is more peaceful than anything he could have imagined. The sun has already set, turning the clear blue of the sky into the slate grey of dusk. There are no clouds on the horizon, and above him, the stars are coming out.

Jyuushirou is barefoot, standing at the edge of the ocean, warm waves lapping at his toes. He does not know why he is here.

_Kyouraku Shunsui is not sure if he is dreaming or not._

_In the morning he will find out if he is as good with a zanpakutou as he claims, but the thought does not worry him. He dreams._

_This place, the place of his dreams, is strangely familiar. The moonlight shines redly on him, on the field of flowers that stretch as far as his eyes can see. The sky is dark, tinted with the red moonlight. He doesn't know why it is red, maybe it always has been and he just never noticed. It is cool, but Shunsui doesn't notice._

There is a song on the breeze. Jyuushirou has always loved the ocean, but because of his illness, was never allowed to play in the water as a child. He senses that this time it will be different. Slowly, carefully, he wades out into the water, feeling the gentle swell of the waves breaking against his chest.

It only takes a moment before he realises that he is not alone.

Shunsui looks around him. This place is silent, so quiet that he can almost hear the flower petals brush against his skin, but he finds that he prefers it. He feels oddly, like he belongs here. Content with that thought, he wanders through the field aimlessly, letting his fingers brush against the red, silken petals of the flowers.

_As he bends down to sniff a particularly fragrant bloom, he hears the laughter._

Jyuushirou waits. He isn't afraid, but he is curious as to who could possibly be here at this hour, in this place.

Is there anyone out there, he asks softly, for he doesn't want to scare anyone away.

For a moment there is no reply, and then he hears voices inside his head. They are clear, high, girlish voices whose musical intonations are pleasing to hear. Still, he cannot see them, but their presence comforts him.

With soft pleas and reassurances, they beckon him further into the water.

Shunsui recognises that laughter, it seems now, that it has always been with him, in the back of his mind. High-pitched, almost hysterical, there is a faint howling quality to it as though the owner of the voice is on the verge of insanity. There is a second voice, lower, a little saner, but no less amused than the first one. Shunsui straightens slowly.

_Out of the corner of his eye, he can see a pink haori._

Jyuushirou almost doesn't see them at first because it seems that they are clothed in the ocean itself.

They are girls, barely women, with skin like tinted porcelain, as pale a green as the first leaves in spring. Their eyes are the colour of spun silver, and their hair is the colour of moss. Both girls are identical in their appearances and mannerisms and movements.

They are beautiful, far surpassing the beauty of anything he has seen to this point.

Smiling, they stretch their hands out to him.

Shunsui turns around, knowing that they are standing behind him.

_They are standing together, regarding him intently. The taller male is smiling widely, his teeth stained red in the moonlight. He is beardless, and his eyes are the colour of blood. The pink haori he is wearing fits him oddly, as though it were made for someone else. His companion is shorter, his hands folded on his rotund stomach. Unlike his companion, he is not smiling, but Shunsui feels his amusement nevertheless. His hakama is black, as is his kimono, but there is something embroidered on the left shoulder._

_A rose._

Who are you, Jyuushirou asks, and the girls laugh, hands covering their mouths.

Their voices answer inside his mind, telling him that they are a part of his soul, and Jyuushirou wonders that he has something this beautiful inside him.

Their names are identical; sounding both familiar and strange on his tongue as they whisper it to him and he repeats it slowly.

Sougyo no kotowari.

Shunsui doesn't ask who the strangers are, because he already knows. They are he, and he is they; they are one and the same, even though they are so different. He doesn't wonder at this revelation, but he can feel their strength as they offer it to him as well as their names, names that are like the sweet scent of flowers in the air.

_Katen kyoukotsu._

When Jyuushirou awakes, the sun shining through his window, he believes that it was just a dream, nothing more, but as he sits up, he discovers that he can smell the salty tang of the ocean in his room, and puzzled, slides out of bed.

To his surprise, there is a pool of water on the floor, still warm to the touch. In the centre of the pool is a zanpakutou.

Shunsui lies still in bed, remembering. If it was a dream, he wants to hold the details in his mind for as long as possible, so he keeps his eyes closed until something silky brushes his cheek. When he opens his eyes, he is startled to see that his bed is covered in red flower petals. At the base of his bed, something is wrapped in a pink haori.

_Two zanpakutous, one slightly shorter than the other._

Jyuushirou dresses and picks up his zanpakutou, caressing the hilt. He understands now, and is eager to get to class, eager to learn about his zanpakutou. He knows that no one else will understand the nature of the dream but Shunsui, because Shunsui has always seen the truth of every situation.

Shunsui stands before the chipped mirror on the wall, and drapes the haori over his shoulders. Not only does it fit perfectly, but it suits him, although he didn't expect it to. He opens his door, set on finding Jyuushirou because he is the one person Shunsui can count on not to laugh at his dream.

They meet after breakfast, and walk to class together as always.

Somehow, neither of them are surprised that they both have had similar dreams.

What does surprise them is that they are the only two shinigami to ever wield dual soul slayers.


End file.
